A Man Named Stephen

I would like to draw your attention to a man named Stephen,
whom we meet in the Book of Acts.

“Brothers, choose seven men from among you who are known to
be full of the Spirit and wisdom” (Acts 6:3).

“They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy
Spirit” (Acts 6:5).

“Now, Stephen, a man full of God’s grace and power, did
great wonders and miraculous signs among the people” (Acts 6:8).

“These men began to argue with Stephen, but they could not
stand up against his wisdom or the Spirit by which he spoke” (Acts
6:9-10).

“All who were sitting in the Sanhedrin looked intently
at Stephen, and they saw that his face was like the face of an angel” (Acts 6:15).

Stephen started his defense with the God of Glory and
ended his message in this manner and with these words: “But Stephen, full of
the Holy Spirit, looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus
standing at the right hand of God. ‘Look,’ he said, ‘I see heaven open and the
Son of Man standing at the right hand of God’” (Acts 7:55-56).

His last two utterances were, “Lord Jesus, receive my
spirit,” and, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.”

This kind of man with this kind of speech gets two kinds of
responses—violent anger and conversions. Both responses he got from Saul of
Tarsus. Stephen’s short but very powerful life has resulted in millions of
conversions.

Written February 1994.

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